Laudry-machine



A. B. MILLER.

LAUNDRY MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC..26, 1919.

I. m mh aw MW m n m 3H I 0 3 m /w 16 0 I A m 4/ qfiflo k M m m my??? m m r E? UNITED1-ST S PATENT rQ-FFICB ANDREW 3. MILLER, 0F BALDWIN, W sconsin."-

LAUNDRY-MAGHINE.

Specification of Letters latent.

memes. 2a,- 1920.

' 1 -''-Application filed December 26, 1919. Serial No. 347,563.

dling of the material'either during or between the operations. The various improvements will fully appear from the specification and claims and in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a top or plan view of the improved machine. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine with the tubs in section on the line 2-2 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the machine viewing it as from right to leftin Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a partly sectional view of the centraltubes and vertical shaft in the tub, on an enlarged scale.

Referring to the drawing by reference numerals, 5 designatesany suitable form of base, preferably a portable base, upon which are provided legs 6 supporting an outer tub 7. This tub is water tight and provided with a discharge valve (not shown because it is common on washing machines). Fixed at 8 to the bottom of said tub is a central sleeve 9, which extends so far upward into the tub that theusual amount of cleansing fluid placedin the tub will never get above the top of it.

' Rotatable about said sleeve is a second sleeve, 10, whose lower end is fixed at 11, to the bottom of a perforated tub 12, which is smaller than the main tub 7. Fixed at the upper end of the sleeve 10 is a cone 13, which is threaded on a central vertical shaft 14. Fixed at the upper end of said screwsaid bearing are shaft 14 is a hollow cone 15, and in a notch 16 in the top of the shaft is pivoted at17 a lever 18, having an indenture 19 adapted to be engaged by a catch 20, which is constantly pressed upward by a spring 21.

T he lower end of the shaft is journaled in a bearing 22 fixed on the base, and above fixed on the shaft a small bevel gear 23 and a large bevel gear 24, which are operated alternately to rotate the perforated tub at fast or slow speed. The gear 23 is driven by a bevel pinion 25, slidmove the latter ut ably keyed on a main shaft 26,which is I journaled in bearings 27, 28, and has afiixed on it a large gear wheel 29, driven by a small gear 30, fixed on theqshaft' 31 of an electric motor 32. Said main shaft also" has a small gear; 33, driving a larger gear erally grooved hub 41, engaged by a shifter lever 42, which is fulcrumed at 43 and-by a rod 44 connected to a shifter 45, which engages the hub of the bevel pinion 25, to

of mesh whenever the f pinion40 is movlng into mesh with the gear 24. Said shifter 45 is provided with a hand lever 46 adapted to be placed alternately in either one of three notches in a notched sector 47. When placed in the middle notch both pinions, 25 and 40 are idle and when the lever is inone of the other notches one or the other of the said pinions will be thrown into mesh. i

Fixed upon the rear side of the tub 7 is a mechanism frame 48, in whose lower end .34 fixed on an idler shaft 35'. On the latter and in a bracket 49 on the tub is journaled a vertical shaft 50, having a bevel gear 51 driven by the bevel gear 38. On the upper end of the shaft 50 is fixed a collar 52 which supports the shaft. On said shaft is further fixed a bevel pinion 53, which rotates a bevel gear 54, rotating on a stud 55 fixed in the frame 48. The gear 54 has a crank pin 56 operating a pitman 57, the upis pivoted at 58 to a crossper end of which guided on vertical bars 60 head 59, which is of the frame 48. 7

Fixed at 61 in the cross-head is the lower end of a standard 62, which is slidably guided in the upper end of frame 48. said standard is fixed a rearward sh0ulder64. The head may be further secured to the'cross-head by a brace 65. 'To said head 63 .is pivoted at 66 the forked end of a horizontal arm 67, having branching arms 68, in which are secured the vertical rods 69 of two .pounders 70. Said pounders being fully described and claimed in mv U. S. Patent, No. 1,313,497 of August 19, 1919 I need notherein repeat their struc- On head 63 having a upward by a spring 75. For large machines such latch is made U-shaped so as to form that case the electric: motor'32 is dispensed I with.

Fixed on one side of the tub is a resili ent brake member'77 having a press button 78 projecting outward through an aperture,

so that the operator may press it and theref by cause the braketo act against the inner tub 12, especially against the rim 79 about its lower portion, and thus reduce speed of the rotation of the" inner tub at the time it f approaches the. upper end of the screw 14.

1 In the operation of the machine a sulficient amount of cleansing fiuld is put 1nto the tub 7 the clothes to be cleansed are placed in the tub 12,- the latter is lowered the handle 18.

by either throwing the pinions 40 and 25 out of mesh and pressing downward on the edges of the tub by the hands, so that the screw '14, whose threads are for that purpose sufiiciently slanting o-r steep, Wlll-I'O- tate, or the tub may be lowered by resisting its rotation during a proper rotat1on of the screw by the gears 40 and24; or, the gearing and screw may stand still and the tub be given a rotary push or two by one hand so it will descend on the screw, the latterbeing held still b the other hand placed on he gear 10 isthen moved into mesh and the motor started. The pounders will now move up and down and the'inner tub will be rotated slowly by the gears 402%i so as to move all the clothes cone 13 has a radical slot 80 with a lever 81 pivoted at 82 therein and having a spring 83 arranged tohold the upper end of it into a roove 8a in the screw (see Fig. 4).

hen the poundin process is finished the motor is stopped, t e fingers 71 released from the latch 7 3, and the pounders are swung to the position shown in dotted line in Fig. 2, with the arm 67 resting upon the shoulder 64. The shifter lever 46 is then moved so as to disengage gear 40 and .en-. gage gear 25 with gear 23, and the lever 81 is then touched by the operator so as to disengage it from the groove 84, as the motor is started. Said starting soon causes the rapid rotation of the screw to raise the lever '81 above the groove, where it then rides' on the top of the screw threads until the cone l3 enters the cone l5 and by frictional contact between the two cones enables the screw shaft 14 to rotate the tub 12 about five hundred revolutions per minute or any other desired speed predetermined by the 'gearing and the motor, -During said fast rotation of tub 12 the cleansingfiuid is forced outwardly by centrifugal force through the perforations, of the tub and flows down below it. into theouter tub 7. The clothes are then removed, and replaced ll yl the next lot of clothes to be washed.

e operator now swings the top lever 18 to a horizontal position and uses it as a radial handle to prevent rotation of the shaft 14 while his other hand takes hold of the edge of the inner tub and by a slight turning movement separates the cones 1315. The

inner tub will now either rotate aboutthe screW. and get down in that way, or-as alread stated, the operator may place his han upon opposite .points of the top edge thereof and press the tub down in a moment,

hen the'tub is fully down the lever screw. he poun ers are now replaced in the inner'tub the gear LO-engaged with gear 24, the motor started and the whole operation just described is repeated. 1

From the foregoing description it'will be seen that among other advantages of the machine it enables one to avoid the wear and tear to the clothes and other fabric caused by the usual rubbing process and also by the wringing of the clothesthr'ough readily be removed from the inner tub without detaching them aywringing machine or other mechanism; and the pounders ma it is impossible for the liquid to-leak out around the shaft 14 although the latter has no stuffing box about it, and may thus rotate thatmuch easier.

What I claim is I 1. In a machine of the class described, a fluid-retaining main tub having a central sleeve projecting upward from its bottom, a perforated tub inside the main tub and having a central sleeve projecting upward from its bottom and arranged to rotate about the first mentioned or inner sleeve, a vertical shaft journaled in the inner sleeve and extending above both sleeves, means below the bottom of the main tub for rotatingthe shaft at fast and at slow speed; the upper portion of said shaft constituting a screw and said outer sleeve having at its upper end a head threaded on said screw, means for locking the head to the lower part of the screw; said head on the sleeve having the 1 bottom of ing a central sleeve projecting upward from I its bottom and arranged to rotate about the first mentioned or inner s1eeve,"a vertica1 shaft journaled in the inner sleeve and ex: tending above both sleeves, means below the the main tub for rotating the shaft at fast or slow speed; the vupper portion of said shaft constituting a screw, said I outer sleeve having at its upper endfa head threaded on said screw, means for locking 10 the headto the lower partof the screw; said locking means consisting of a short groove in one side of the screw and a spring-pressed catch carried by the threaded head and arranged to engage in the groove.

, In testimony whereofI afiix my signature.

' ANDREW B. MILLEB.-. 1 

